The Fate of Old Glory by Fred Pardee Hanchett

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jul 17, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 29.

The Fate of Old Glory.

By Fred Pardee Hanchett

MARK the on-coming clouds o'er the land once so free!— Lo! the rights that our forefathers gained are in danger From the subtle intrigues both at home and o'er sea, Where Assumption presides, and Deceit is no stranger! From the loftiest dome To the lowliest home, Are blazon'd the foul and false tenets of Rome. O say, shall our loved starry flag cease to wave O'er the land of the free, and a home of the brave?

Shall our free schools go down 'neath the tread of the foe?— 'Tis a guile born of sin that our nation now faces. Shall we bow to the "beast"—that arch-demon of wo— And, alas! welcomed here by blind men in high places? Tho men clamor "Poor fools!" E'en "fanatical fools!" Let this be our motto: "Free worship! free schools!" And ne'er for the triple-crown "Old Glory" wave, In a land of the free, and a home of the brave.

To the fair, thoughtful mind, the dark past should make clear What the future days hold—be conditions repeated! Stakes and racks and the wheel; dungeons loathsome and drear, Are awaiting true men—to the foe undefeated. May God save from the fate Of a dread Church and State— The spawn of Corruption and fierce pagan hate! And ne'er may our loved starry flag cease to wave O'er a land of the free, and a home of the brave!

Would ye deign to receive as the price of your will, E'en the boon of sweet life from the throne of Perdition? Would ye worship the "beast" whose delight is to kill? Would ye wear the steel chains of a sleepless contrition? Let no "number" nor "name," Nor the "mark" of ill-fame Of antichrist plunge our dear country in shame; But, ruled by the people—the just and the brave, May the flag of the free o'er a free people wave!

FRED PARDEE HANCHETT.